Top 10 $aving $trategies

Hello!

Today I'd like to share some of my favorite saving strategies.  While I believe Money Coaching is about WAY MORE than simple strategies to save or grow money.​  To get real change you have to work with the roots.  BUT! Here are some simple strategies to grow that bank account!

All of these I have tried, and some worked better for me than others, so pick one that you think would work for you and try it out for a specific time, like a month, or 6 months; and just try one habit at a time.

1.   Pick something you regularly spend money on, and/or the typical amount, and any time you don't do that, or spend less.  Take the amount you would have spent and put it into a specific savings account, or pay off a specific credit card.

Why do I love this one?  Because it's not requiring you to make serious change, maybe you do choose to go out to dinner one night less a week?  But if you really feel like it then go.  But as you start to see that bank account grow, eventually it will be more fun to make the cheaper choice so that you can add to your fund.  I have typically done this for coffee and wine.  Any time I skipped getting a coffee, I would put that $3.25, which now is $5, into my savings account.  I'd do this every time I wanted a coffee, and chose not to get it, or chose to drink the free coffee that is provided when I am on the road.  And with wine, it was anytime I only had one glass, I would transfer $7.  This works best if you make the transfer immediately.  If you "do it later" you'll most likely find an excuse or reason of why you don't need to.

2.  Tax your self.  This one is not as fun.  But choose something that you want to cut your spending on, and tax that.  You may not put a tax on anybody else.  So maybe you recognize that you spend a lot on going out to eat?  Then you pick how much you will tax yourself, and everytime you do that activity, then you transfer the predetermined tax amount immediately after paying the bill. 1-10% should be good.  Personally I think any higher than that, is not very nice to yourself. 

The way I like to do this is to put a tax on something I already want to stop doing.  Smoking or drinking might be a good choice.  I have done this on sweets.

3.  Just make it automatic.  Set up an automatic transfer to an account specifically designated for your goal.  This is what I do now.  It's the easiest for me at this stage.  

4.  Take your monthly income and divide it by 5.  That is your budget that you are allowed to spend on EVERYTHING.  Including gas & coffee, or $1 tips & donations.  You may do this strategie strictly in cash, or you can record every single penny.  Doing this one will automatically save 1/5th of your income that can be applied towards big purchases, goals, or building up your "curve ball account", ect....

5.  The Envelope method.  The envelope method, is a tried and true method that does work.  It forces you to be extremely mindful, because you are doing everything in cash.  Create an envelope for each category of spending, then every paycheck put the budgeted amount in there, and that is what you have to spend until the next paycheck.

6.  Take 10.
This one can be pretty fun.  Every time you receive a $10 bill, you take it out of your wallet, and save it in a safe place.  This one works because its unusual to receive $10 bills, compared to $5 or $20, and $10 won't hurt that much to spend.

7.  Create a budget.  I know the most obvious.  But a serious challenge for most people.

8.  Instead of happy hour, do a sunset hike!  Why not save money and get some exercise while hanging out with your friends.  This will benefit everyone in multiple ways.  My personal favorite <3

9.  Take a large amount of money, and put it in a high yield savings account.  This one may work better for some people than others.   For example if you get a bonus once a year or a couple times a year, take at least half, or even all of it, and just set it aside in a interest accumulating account, like a money market account, a CD, stocks... and let the money multiply for you.

10. Make an extra payment.  Whether you own a house, a car, or have some credit card debt, nothing will get your finances in better shape than becoming debt free faster.

AND to take this a step farther once you have paid off whatever it was; keep making that "payment" into a savings account or investing in stocks, or yourself, towards a specific goal.  For example once I paid off my car, I kept making my "car payment" towards a savings account that I have for big purchase items, like travel, buying a house, or my next car.  I plan on buying my next car out right.

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I am sure many of you have heard of some or all of these before.  But they work.  All of them require discipline.  So if discipline is your downfall, start as small as you possibly can, like $1 a month.  I know that sounds ridiculous.  But its not, the habit is more important than the amount.  And if discipline, or whenever things are going good, something bad always happens to wipe it all away, or anything else like that, there are much bigger patterns at play that really need to be addressed. 

If you are enjoying reading my articles, then chance are you are ready to confront those patterns that may be unconscious and do the deep work to get real change.  Book a free 1 hour consultation on my Contact page to learn more about the Money Coaching Process.

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